


walkin with a ghost

by Anonymous



Category: Check Please! (Webcomic)
Genre: First Date, Haunted House, M/M, alternate universe- haunted house, haunted house actor holster, i have never been in a haunted house in my life, med student rans, okay so somebody gets punched in the face by accident? but thats not really graphic um
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-09-29
Updated: 2016-09-29
Packaged: 2018-08-18 11:36:55
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,923
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/8160826
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/
Summary: Justin is not good with haunted houses. Or being startled. Or any of that. (from a prompt on tumblr that was basically 'you're an actor in this haunted house and i accidentally punched you in the face when you scared me shit im sorry' so? here ya go)





	

**Author's Note:**

> find me on tumblr @ranholts!!

It was cold. There was a chill spreading through the room from the air conditioning unit in the ceiling, definitely to add to the ambiance of the place, and definitely not because Justin was getting chills. Really, it wasn’t his fault that he got dragged out to a haunted house a week before Halloween, he definitely has Eric to blame for that, and now Eric is nowhere to be found. They had gotten separated at some point a few hallways ago, and Justin was on edge. Every corner he turned, he was fairly damn sure he would run into something that wanted to kill him and eat his rotting corpse or whatever, and that was not a good feeling. He deliberately thought through uncurling his balled fists, trying to shake his shoulders loose and lighten up. It was just a haunted house, fuckin ten year olds went there for fun all the time. He could handle this.

He took a left turn, taking him into a room that was surprisingly darker than the ones he had been in previously. He tugged at the waxy bracelet on his left wrist, tried to regulate his breathing in spite of the cloying faux-vanilla smell of the fog machine. Feeling a building wave of even more goddamn stress, he turned and tried to double back the way he came to get out of this oddly labyrinthine room. He tried calling out to Eric a few times, hoping that he could hear him and not disrupt anyone in the place, to no avail- Bitty was probably far ahead by now. He just had to press through. Justin found his way into a slightly better lit room, unfortunately adorned with occult themed decorations, even colder than the first rooms he had been in. He walked quickly through along the designated path, trying to simultaneously take in the work put into interior decor while also keeping an eye out for anything that could possibly want to scare him.

He was not good at keeping an eye out for anything that could possibly scare him.

Once Justin was a little over halfway through the ghost/cult/whatever else themed room, so close to the safety of the blackened hallway, he heard a whisper. Just the faintest mutter, deep and slow, coming from what felt like all around him. Whipping around quickly, he saw a sickly pale tall man, ragged shirt draped over muscular shoulders, and the most dead eyes he had ever seen. Instincts kicked in, and Justin screamed and immediately punched the apparition in the jaw. In his stress-addled brain, it was surprising when his fist made contact with solid flesh and ow holy shit solid jaw, instead of cold air and probably ectoplasm or whatever the hell ghosts were made of, he didn’t like to think of that. Luckily, he didn’t have time to think of that, because the apparently really good at his job actor was doubled over, clutching his jaw.

“Dude, what the fuck?” The actor said, speaking now with what seemed like a thick accent from somewhere in New York, rather than his previous affected whispy ghost voice.

“Oh my god, holy shit, I’m so sorry, fuck, fuck, fuck,” Justin said, his voice thick with almost tears and sounding terrified still.

“Shit, you’re fine, I’ve taken worse, but fuck you’ve got a helluva swing, dude. I’m just gonna, uh, go get this patched up? And I should probably like, escort you out, so uh. Come with me, I guess?” The guy replied, standing up to his surprisingly lofty full height. He rotated his jaw in the dark, and it made a popping noise. It was really dark in the room, adding to the aesthetic and all that, but Justin could sort of make out the outline of this guy’s face, and shit he seems hot.

“Okay, yeah, that’s understandable, shit fuck I’m so sorry, dude!”

“Forreal, you’re good, I’ve just gotta maybe kick you out cuz of rules and all that. Trust me, I’ve taken hella bad hits, I did hockey back in college, this is nothing.” The guy said, awkwardly clapping Justin on the shoulder before clearing his throat and starting to walk, and Justin followed. “We’ve got some weird back routes I’ve gotta take, I’ll lead the way.” 

They walked in an awkward silence, through the hidden passageways behind the walls that the actors use to scare patrons. It was still quite dark even in the hallways, until the guy pushed open a heavy looking door that led out into a brightly lit warehouse room. There were people scattered and milling through the room, mostly in various states of gore and horror getup, going about daily activities until they were needed for the shop. This included, but was not limited to, a young man with curled hair in a velveteen vampire cape drinking a capri sun, a disgruntled seeming makeup artist who had to deal with capri sun vampire dude, and a tall woman having a large papier mache pumpkin settled on her head. He looked over to where the guy (the guy who he accidentally punched in the face, he needs to remind himself of that) had walked off, only a few feet away, pulling off his tattered shirt for whatever goddamn unfair reason. He made his way across the room to where a short woman sat on a wooden crate, wearing black lipstick and dark glasses, drinking coffee and overseeing business.

“Hey, Lards, uh,” The guy said when he made it across the room, standing awkwardly tall next to the woman on the box. “This is, um?” He continued, looking to Justin, who filled in with his name. “This is Justin, he kinda accidentally punched me in the face? No no no, it’s chill, we’re good, just letting you know.”

“Justin, huh? You trying to start shit with my company?” The woman, apparently referred to as ‘Lards’, asked, taking off her sunglasses and narrowing her eyes at Justin. “Adam, you good? You sure?”

The guy, otherwise known as Adam, nodded. “Ch’yeah, it’s fine, dude. Gonna go grab some towels, this dude’s fine, don’t kill him.” Adam gives a thumbs up and walks off, apparently to find towels. Justin feels horrible.

“Oh god, I’m so sorry, I know it’s no excuse but I was just, really really super stressed, and I’m kinda terrified of ghosts and I maybe thought he was.. A ghost…” Justin rambles, nervous about getting banned from the place, just realizing that he has no clue where Bitty is.

“Hmm. Maybe try not to like, punch my employees slash good friends in the face, but I get you, dude. At least you’re apologetic, man.” The owner explained, after looking at him critically for a good minute. “I’m Larissa, by the way. You aren’t banned.”

“Oh my god, thank you, I’m so sorry holy shit, that was not my high point in life, good lord I’m sorry, it’s nice to meet you I’m Justin and I’m so sorry?”

“You’re off the hook, kid. Go check on Adam and don’t punch him again, mmkay? See you around.” Larissa replied. Justin waved nervously over his shoulder as he walked away in the general direction that Adam had left in.

He found Adam on the other side of the large room, leaning on the wall with his phone in his hand, a wet cloth pressed against his cheek and nearly all of his stage makeup gone. And fuck, he was gorgeous. Justin had definitely noticed he was tall before, because damn if he couldn’t notice a man taller than him what was he even good for, and he had arms like some kind of god, and was unfairly wearing sweatpants and no shirt. His hair was wet and messy, his eyes were a soft blue, and his jaw was.. Beautiful. Simply put, this Adam guy was gorgeous and Justin was very distressed. 

“D’you put any antibiotic stuff on there?” Justin asked, trying not to look at the small split on Adam’s lower lip for too long.

“Nah, didn’t seem like too big of a deal, plus we’re out, so.” Adam replied, slipping his phone into his pocket and focusing those ridiculous blue eyes on Justin.

“Dude, I’ve got some, hold on a minute,” Justin said, reaching into his pocket for the very small first aid kit he kept there. “Here.”

“Do you really have a first aid kit just in your pocket?”

“I’m a med student with very accident prone friends, these things tend to happen.” Justin replied with a small roll of his eyes, not sure that he really just got chirped for his safety precautions, really trying not to look at Adam’s face or abs or.. Any of that.

“Hmm. Makes sense.” Adam said, rubbing the gel onto the area right by his mouth, handing it back to Justin and grabbing a hoodie from the hook next to him.

“So, uh, I know I keep apologizing about the whole, y’know, punching you in the face thing, but is there anything I can do to like, make it up to you?” Justin asked, chewing at his bottom lip and having a much easier time looking at Adam now that he had put a shirt on.

“Buy me dinner maybe?” Adam said with an easy seeming smile, bumping his shoulder into Justin’s.

“Or we could just order a pizza and hang out in my apartment and not have to actually go places?” Justin tried in a wave of courage that surprised his own damn self. “I am being way too forward, holy shit.”

“Y’know, I think I’d like that a whole fuckin’ lot, dude.” Adam replied, his smile getting wider. “And you’re not too forward.”

\- - -

A few minutes later, while they were leaving the building, Justin thought to check his phone. He had a few texts from Eric waiting, though nothing too dire. He texted back as fast as he could, trying not to ignore Adam talking about… whatever he was talking about.

Bits: Where are you?  
Bits: I’m needed @ home after this, text me?  
Bits: I’m gonna pray that y’all made it outta there in one piece [praying emojis]  
Bits: Justin you had better text me!!  
Bits: I’m in the lobby, heading home soon

Justin: um. A bit of a predicament lol? Found a cute boy i do not need a ride home thanks bits  
Bits: oh lord.  
Justin: i had fun lol sorry 4 disappearing

\- - -

The walk back to Justin’s apartment was only a few blocks, and he was unlocking the door before it felt like too much time had passed. He called in an order for pizza after checking with Adam if he had any allergies, and grabbed some wine and glasses from the cabinet. Adam wandered about for a minute, getting to know the apartment a bit before settling on the couch with Justin, wine glass in hand.

“Y’know, I kinda might’ve thought you were a ghost.” Justin said after a glass and a half, trying to sound like a rational adult, facing Adam from the opposite end of the couch.

“Dude. I thought you were a guy with a nice butt.” Adam replied, then winced at his own words. “Too forward?”

“Not too forward. I’m glad we both had some good first impressions, then.” Justin laughed.

\- - -

Eight years down the line, Mr. and Dr. Birkholtz Oluransi have a dog, a house in New York, one hell of a getting together story and the best Halloween decorations on the block.


End file.
